Page 6 - Zakaj Črtomir ne umre? Preobrazbe nacionalnega mita: zbornik povzetkov. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem.
P. 6
y Doesn’t Črtomir Die? Transformations of the
National Myth
In the beginning, there was an initiative for cooperation on the part of the Koper Theatre, which had decided
to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence by staging The Baptism on the Savica. At the
University of Primorska, we welcomed the idea because this is our first collaboration with the Koper Theatre
on such an extensive level, and given what has been done so far, we firmly believe that it will not be our last.
We have been especially pleased with this collaborative project since it fits into our University’s long-term
strategy of including culture and art into various research areas, which is also why all of the University’s
faculties have supported this project.
At the Faculty from which I come, we were especially excited at the prospect of the University organising
a scientific symposium that would combine the differences among its members in a productive way, as we
“humanists” seem to be especially aware that Prešeren’s poem is a never-exhausted topic - just as we can
claim that nation and nationalism are topics that are impossible not to address -, especially today, when we
are witnessing European integration and globalisation processes on the one hand, and their questioning,
revaluation and often also breakdown on the other. The epidemic that is still shaping our lives has seemingly
put these issues into the background, but it has not put a stop to their topicality. And so it is not surprising
that even thirty years after we gained independence, the figure of Črtomir still rises before us as a character
who embodies (and/or deconstructs) the national myth - it is not surprising that, during the social blockade,
he still triggers not only a debate on an active or passive hero, but also one on the Slovenian myth as a myth
of an active or passive nation; even though the “Prešeren structure” that Dušan Pirjevec spoke about may
have been forgotten, this second, more fundamental part of his questioning still seems to be relevant.
Within all these questions, Črtomir all too often emerges as a tragic hero: an agent in an alleged epic who
fails as an epic hero. A hero of a romantic long poem who is incapable of a subject’s romantic activism – just
as he is incapable of the pantheistic perspective embraced by some other romantic subjects. Finally, he
even emerges as a hero who deconstructs his own role as a hero, especially, but not exclusively, because of a
military defeat.
However, his role can also be seen in a more “positive” light - this will be seen especially from the paper
presented at the symposium that comes from the Andrej Marušič Institute and which deviates the most from
a strict literary or philosophical treatment of the subject. In this paper, which sheds light on Črtomir from a
psychological point of view, his specific situation is revealed as almost a means of suicide prevention - which,
among other things, does away with the common misconception about Črtomir as a potential suicide. The
accompanying video, prepared by the Faculty of Health Sciences, shows Črtomir in an activist reinterpretation
and in a completely different role. These two contributions demonstrate the general aim that guided us
in the preparation of the symposium: beyond shedding more light on Črtomir’s role as a literary hero and
placing him in the “classical” historical, philosophical and social contexts, our objective was to expand the
“field of struggle” into hitherto less familiar, unthought-of situations and contexts, which include some
other disciplines. Of course, we neither wished to nor could forget that Prešeren - despite all his nationality
- can only be thought of in comparison to the culture of the other, regardless of whether this other is our
neighbour or such geographically distant cultures as Canada and Georgia.
Dr. Marcello Potocco
Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska
4
National Myth
In the beginning, there was an initiative for cooperation on the part of the Koper Theatre, which had decided
to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence by staging The Baptism on the Savica. At the
University of Primorska, we welcomed the idea because this is our first collaboration with the Koper Theatre
on such an extensive level, and given what has been done so far, we firmly believe that it will not be our last.
We have been especially pleased with this collaborative project since it fits into our University’s long-term
strategy of including culture and art into various research areas, which is also why all of the University’s
faculties have supported this project.
At the Faculty from which I come, we were especially excited at the prospect of the University organising
a scientific symposium that would combine the differences among its members in a productive way, as we
“humanists” seem to be especially aware that Prešeren’s poem is a never-exhausted topic - just as we can
claim that nation and nationalism are topics that are impossible not to address -, especially today, when we
are witnessing European integration and globalisation processes on the one hand, and their questioning,
revaluation and often also breakdown on the other. The epidemic that is still shaping our lives has seemingly
put these issues into the background, but it has not put a stop to their topicality. And so it is not surprising
that even thirty years after we gained independence, the figure of Črtomir still rises before us as a character
who embodies (and/or deconstructs) the national myth - it is not surprising that, during the social blockade,
he still triggers not only a debate on an active or passive hero, but also one on the Slovenian myth as a myth
of an active or passive nation; even though the “Prešeren structure” that Dušan Pirjevec spoke about may
have been forgotten, this second, more fundamental part of his questioning still seems to be relevant.
Within all these questions, Črtomir all too often emerges as a tragic hero: an agent in an alleged epic who
fails as an epic hero. A hero of a romantic long poem who is incapable of a subject’s romantic activism – just
as he is incapable of the pantheistic perspective embraced by some other romantic subjects. Finally, he
even emerges as a hero who deconstructs his own role as a hero, especially, but not exclusively, because of a
military defeat.
However, his role can also be seen in a more “positive” light - this will be seen especially from the paper
presented at the symposium that comes from the Andrej Marušič Institute and which deviates the most from
a strict literary or philosophical treatment of the subject. In this paper, which sheds light on Črtomir from a
psychological point of view, his specific situation is revealed as almost a means of suicide prevention - which,
among other things, does away with the common misconception about Črtomir as a potential suicide. The
accompanying video, prepared by the Faculty of Health Sciences, shows Črtomir in an activist reinterpretation
and in a completely different role. These two contributions demonstrate the general aim that guided us
in the preparation of the symposium: beyond shedding more light on Črtomir’s role as a literary hero and
placing him in the “classical” historical, philosophical and social contexts, our objective was to expand the
“field of struggle” into hitherto less familiar, unthought-of situations and contexts, which include some
other disciplines. Of course, we neither wished to nor could forget that Prešeren - despite all his nationality
- can only be thought of in comparison to the culture of the other, regardless of whether this other is our
neighbour or such geographically distant cultures as Canada and Georgia.
Dr. Marcello Potocco
Faculty of Humanities, University of Primorska
4
